What you see in the pictures actually came to my attention last week. An acquaintance took this BCM 14.5 middy barrel to a LGS to have the flash hider pinned and welded to the barrel. Only the barrel, flash hider and gas block were provided. I think the pics speak for themselves, but in case they don’t here is the skinny.
The flash hider was welded or maybe brazed to the barrel. Subsequent to this it was discovered that the gas block should have gone on first. Since they couldn’t get the flash hider back off without destroying it, the “smith” elected to split the gas block and weld it back together on the barrel. The work was paid for and the acquaintance took delivery of the barrel.
The owner of the establishment told the owner of the barrel, " that barrel looks fine to me", after being asked wtf happened. So, you can bet there will be a knock down drag out getting any satisfaction from them. Looking at this from the viewpoint of an expensive lesson learned give me some options.
Without stating the obvious that he should never have paid for that work and accepted the hack job; which he has been told repeatedly, what would you recommend be done to salvage the barrel if at all possible?
WTF, talk about a hack job holy shit. Honestly I would start all over again and buy a new barrel. It might be possible to cut off the gas block and remove the flash hider with some heat. They probably got silver-alloy in the crown and ruined the barrel. I would work on getting my money back from the back door shop and move on.
If this so called “gunsmith” didn’t fully reimburse me for this ghettoed up piece of scrape metal I would stand just off his property and make sure every person coming in and out of his store saw this POS! Was this “gunsmiths” name Stevie Wonder by any chance?
Believe me, all of these suggestions have been made. Forcefully. Especially the part about making the LGS take back this abortion and pay for new parts. I am not hopeful that the owner of the place is going to make this right. I told the barrel’s owner that I did not think the barrel was worth saving since it is obvious a lot of heat was used and you just cant be sure what damage has been done to the metallurgy. I did suggest perhaps cutting it down, but I would much rather see him get his money back and replacement of the parts.
Demand a refund for the cost of the “work”, the barrel, the FH and the gas block. If they refuse, file a claim against them in small claims court. The results speak for themselves. I’ve seen kitchen table hack jobs that didn’t turn out that bad. Not knowing how much that utterly horrific weld job may have affected the temper of the barrel, I would not be willing to shoot it. Perhaps the owner of the LGS will be more trusting after they buy it.
Let’s face it, the customer was wronged. Don’t walk away chalking it up to “lesson learned”. Make the “gunsmith” pay for that particular lesson, because he certainly earned it!
Only correct thing to do would be to cut the gas block off, remove the flash hider, put it in a lathe to turn the muzzle end for appearances sake, reinstall new gas block, Chase the existing threads (if salvageable) and install new flash hider.
That would be the epitome of throwing good money after bad. He’s already out the cost of the job, the gas block and the FH. Then he’d have to pay someone competent to do all the removal and reprofiling the barrel & threads. Consider also that the threads might not be salvageable under there, so the barrel might have to be cut back far enough to rethread. That would negate the purpose of a pinned and welded 14.5", to avoid a tax stamp. All this on a barrel that the integrity of is now in question.
I’d rather spend my money filing a claim in court than pursue any salvage attempts.
I’m not saying it’s good money spent, I belive the op asked if it could be fixed. It can but at what expense seems reasonable I do t know. The whole thing could be done by ADCO for proabably 100 bucks, according to their website they can machine off the old threads and put a sleeve over it with new threads. Again, throwing lipstick on a pig. If the barrel is going to get pitched anyway someone with reasonable skill and equipment could fix it.
Best bet would be to buy a new upper from bcm for 440 bucks.
Eta. You would probably be in over 200 for the work to fix it.
From ADCO web page:
Contour barrel 80
Remove flash hider 40
Pin gas block 55
Blind pin new flash hider 30
205 bones to fix it.
Again, new barrel is the most economic route.
This assumes the threads are fine and I don’t thin I it includes cost of new gas block and flash hider.
Provided the barrel isn’t too bitched, it probably wouldn’t be a bad fix. It’s junk the way it sits so what’s the worst that could happen? Gotta get some heat into that flash hider & try to spin it off. I personally wouldn’t try to cut it off and risk more damage to the barrel. Obviously a new FH and GB would have to be ordered. Once the FH is off, it’s all downhill from there. Heck, if I had more time, it might be a fun project.
Your other option is to threaten the LGS that you’ll put his name & those pictures all over the internet if they don’t try to make this right.
That’s hideous! I’m not a fan of using the courts for these things, but that might be the only resolution available if the owner refuses to make it right. Write a letter detailing the issues and the preferred resolution and send it certified mail. Document everything. Let the owner know that your situation will be shared with various social media outlets, the BBB and your states Attorney General’s Office.
MY God, This has to be a joke. How could anyone claim to be a gunsmith and allow that abortion out of their shop. I’d demand replacement of all parts + costs to the LGS, or take it to small claims court.
If he takes the smith to court the guns owner certainly will be ask two questions. Does the gun work and did smith tell you it would look pretty?? If your friend answers yes and no he walks out of court empty handed. The rifle’s owner should some share of the blame for letting this gun butcher work on his rifle with out knowing what kind of work he does. I would be embarrassed to post the pictures.
I would POSSIBLY accept that job if the SHTF and someone did it with a hacksaw, a hand-cranked arc welder and the barrel jammed between a couple of rocks in the woods.
MAYBE. But then again, I guess that would mean the NFA went out the window a long time ago.
